The Comic Speculator – New Comics Roundup 12/14/2011

The Comic Speculator is a blog written by WorthPoint Comic Book “Worthologist” Matt Baum that takes a look at each week’s hot new comics and back issues and the comic market place in general. Prices discussed here are taken from the Overstreet Guide to Comics (OVST), Comicspriceguide.com (CPG) and current online auction sales. Sales numbers and rankings are courtesy of ICV2.com. The codes under the prices of new titles discussed are Diamond Comics order codes that can be used to help your local comic retailer in ordering the issues discussed. If you want to hear what this nerd sounds like you can catch him on his podcast, the Two-Headed Nerd Comicast, where he and his friend Joe discuss the latest comic news, review some new comics, and answer your questions.

New Comics Roundup

Below you will find all the info you could possibly need on the hot, new comics shipping this Wednesday, Dec. 14. For a full list of comics shipping this week, click here. To find a comic shop near you, click here.

Variant Watch

Here’s a list of all the variants shipping from Diamond this week and some info on the hot ones. The variant Ratios (i.e.; 1:10) represent how many of the regular issues the retailer has to order to receive one of the variants. If a ratio is not included it’s because I couldn’t get the information or because the variant is a new printing. The prices I post here are suggested, reasonable prices based on the ratios and may be higher or lower at your comic shop. Click here for this week’s complete shipping list.

Star Wars Agent Of The Empire Iron Eclipse #1 (of 5)(Dave Wilkins Variant Cover), 1:5. Dave Wilkins is a relatively newcomer to the comics world but I can’t wait to see more form him based on this variant. Watch for a $5-$6 price tag.

Strain #1 (of 11)(Steve Morris Variant Cover), 1:5. Steve Morris has been providing Dark Horse with amazing painted covers for the last year and there isn’t one that didn’t impress me, including this really scary-looking cover. Keep them coming, Steve. Watch for a $5-$6 price tag.

DC:

Green Lantern #4 (Doug Mahnke Black & White Variant Cover), 1:200

Green Lantern #4 (Francis Manapul Variant Cover)

Shade #3 (of 12)(Cully Hamner Variant Cover)

Green Lantern #4 (Francis Manapul Variant Cover). Retailers could order this variant based on their orders for the lowest-ordered DC New 52 #4 issue shipping this week. My guess is Mister Terrific. I love this Manapul cover. He’s quickly establishing himself as one of DC’s best. Watch for a $5-$6 price tag and remember this is not a ratioed variant, so don’t pay for it like one.

Shade #3 (of 12)(Cully Hamner Variant Cover), 1:10. I’ve been a big fan of Hamner’s for years and it’s great to see him finally getting higher profile jobs at DC. That said, it’s hard to pick between his and Tony Harris’ covers. Watch for a $7-$8 price tag

Avengers X-Sanction #1 (of 4)(Carlo Pagulayan Battle Comic Shop Variant Cover). Retailers had to order at least 500 of these and they could have the name of their shop printed on the cover. As far as price, if I’m a retailer that ordered 500 copies of this variant you better believe I’d be selling it for cover price.

Avengers X-Sanction #1 (of 4)(Joe Quesada Sketch Variant Cover), 1:200. X-Sanction is the beginning of the beginning of next year’s Avengers vs. X-Men event. The comics world is just crazy about preludes; any more, it seems, if your comic isn’t part of an event then it’s the prelude to one. So, as usual, there’s plenty of variants to choose from. All featuring Cable pounding on Cap or all the Avengers. Watch for these price ranges:

1:15 – $6-$8
1:25 – $12-$15
1:100 – $35-$40
1:200 – $125-$140

Carnage U.S.A. #1 (of 5)(Humberto Ramos Variant Cover), 1:100. This one might be aiming a little high. I wouldn’t expect to see too many shops ordering the 100 copies needed to get one of these unless it was pre-ordered. And if it was, be prepared to pay for it. Watch for a $70-$80 price tag.

Uncanny X-Force #18 (Spoiler Variant Cover), 1:25. I’m not sure what the spoiler is here, other than maybe the good guys win. But really, I think we saw that one coming. Everyone knew Nightcrawler was coming back, so not much of a spoiler there. I love Rafael Grampa and this cover is one of his best yet. Watch for a $13-$15 price tag.

Speculator Picks of the Week

These are comics that could sell out very quickly due to conservative ordering, popular demand, shipping errors or even UPS . . . sorry, I’m ranting. Pick them up while you can or pay too much for them later . . .

Solicitation: Welcome To Carnage U.S.A.—The Ultimate Red State! Carnage’s maniacal reign of terror continues, courtesy of the critically acclaimed creative team of Zeb Wells and Clayton Crain! Spider-Man and the Avengers must go on a brutal hunt to capture Cletus Kasaday before a small town in the American heartland falls under his mass-murdering spell! Buckle in and prepare for a violence packed adventure! Carnage U.S.A. wants YOU this December!

32 pages
$3.99
OCT110632

Why it’ll go fast: Carnage is one those characters with a cult following. To me, he’s always been a Venom knockoff, but I admit he was created during a time I wasn’t reading Spidey, so I might not have the full skinny on him. Regardless, I’m guessing most retailers ordered lighter on this one due to the $3.99 price tag and the general tendency of mini-series to sell less than regular issues. When the comic sells out from the shelves before Friday, watch for the re-orders to come in fast and furious. If Carnage does go fast, and it should base on the popularity of the character and writer Zeb Wells high-profile job on the Avenging Spider-Man, this one could spike in price but I don’t see it being a long-term performer. Get in and get out on Carnage USA #1.

Why it’ll go fast: I challenge you to find a book with a creative team better than this one. X-Force has been fantastic since issue one and this Dark Angel storyline has been the best yet. Something big is going to happen in this issue. No spoilers here, but my guess is there’s a major death and a return in this issue. I’m not the only one who agrees. Retailers ordered this issue into sell out status before it shipped. Watch for X-Force #18 to be a key issue in what has become an amazing run.

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Matt Baum is WorthPoint’s comic book Worthologist. If you have any questions about these books or anything else in the comic book world feel free to contact Matt or post your question below in the Comic Book Forum in the WorthPoint Forums, located in the Community tab. You can also reply to this article in the “leave a reply box below. If you need more comic-nerd in your life, you can follow Matt on Twitter, where he’s always screaming about something nerd-related. Thanks to all Matt’s new followers and keep the comments coming!

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Didnt we see the end of Carnage quite a while back when he tangled with the Silver Surfer… it seems that Marvel is having less and less problems bringing back characters without mention of their previous dismisal. Call it DC-ing instead of Tebowing.

I think it was the Sentry that killed him but, and I might be mistaken here, I’m pretty sure the first Carnage mini that Wells wrote brought the character back. Gotta say, I read this issue and I’m giving it a good review on this week’s show.